Paparazzi Ordering 101...

I wanted to talk a little bit about Paparazzi inventory and ordering, now that I have a few orders under my belt! There are some things you should know before you sign up or make your first order. None of these things were a surprise to me when I first placed an order after reading the book and having a fantastic upline, but there were things I didn't know before I signed... None of it has dampened my spirits or love for this company but I do want to soften the learning curve for other ladies!

The Back Office
First of all, ordering happens through the back office. You log in and choose "New Order" in the My Orders dropdown menu. The left side menu has all your category options. Pretty strait forward. Once you start a new order, don't leave it unattended for to long. It times out after a few minutes and you lose your order. My first order I meticulously choose everything I wanted, walked away to make some coffee, came back and had to start from square one... not fun! Now I have a very basic system. When I add something to the cart I also add the item to an open Notepad doc open on my desktop, saved as "next order" so that if I do time out it's easy to go back and re-add all the items. 

New and Discontinued Inventory
My next tip, when Paparazzi says that their inventory is every changing... they mean it! You can't count on something being there tomorrow if you want it today, but in the same run you can always expect new inventory frequently. I personally love this! You just have to get over love affairs with the jewelry of yesterday. If you're in love, get it. Or don't look until you're ready to make an order! And never promise a customer you can get them something they wanted and missed out on, you always "have to check" first. If you run into real trouble or have a very hopeful customer you can always check with ladies on facebook groups (if you join my team you're under JemPro which has one of the most amazing Paparazzi groups around, these ladies are intensely helpful) but I wouldn't count on finding something you want easily. 

How Kits Work
Now something that I've found a bit of a struggle to work with... everything is sold in sets of 5. Blockbusters are sold as 5 of the same item in a pack (i.e. you get 5 of the same piece). Regular inventory is sold in 5 different styles that work within the "line" and are all the same color family. For example, "5th Avenue Brass Kit 2 - Bracelet" is a kit of bracelets sold right now. 5th Avenue is the "collection", Brass is the color, Kit 2 is the number kit since there are typically multiple kits in every color, and obviously Bracelet is the style piece. Here is what you would get with this kit at this particular time: 

The problem is that most of the kits contain an item or two that I find unpopular. Say for example I always sell out of the 2 cuffs above, but the rose charm bracelet never sells. I am stuck debating whether to end up with 2 of the "never-sell" pieces and hope to sell the cuffs quickly since I sold out of them before or passing the whole kit up because I know I will potentially not sell 3 of the 5 items very quickly. Now, if you're inventory is high volume this really shouldn't be a big problem, but it does make it more difficult for a woman just doing small home parties and drop ins or who's just starting out with only 100 or so pieces making smaller amounts of purchases at the same time. It is also slightly harder that they are paired in groups by color. I don't see a way for Paparazzi to get around this issue without separating the 5 piece kits, so I understand. It's just you don't typically sell only 5 black necklaces at a time. So If I'm down 2 black, 2 white, 2 blue, 2 green, 1 pink and 1 purple for example, replacing those 10 items would only mean 2 color choices... For regular inventory you just get through it. You buy basic black, silver, white, and brown colors and throw splashes of color in there every few sets. You buy with the upcoming seasons and track colors and styles your customers are buying. This doesn't take anything complicated, just a little notepad with general information will help narrow and that's all you need. 

Now for blockbuster necklaces which in my opinion (and my customers buying patterns prove) are some of the best necklaces. This isn't to say that they are all the best, or that there aren't some awesome necklaces in the regular inventory, it's just that I sell more of these than other necklaces by far. These come with their own trouble. It is very nice that you can pick the items that sell well and avoid the ones that sit on the rack for months, but you also take up 5 items in 1 and lessen your variety. Again, this only effects the people starting out small, or women who are content with home parties and drop ins. If you have 500 pieces or more, you wont really be effected since your variety is in your number. I do get by with this with a little help from my Paparazzi friends! If I buy 2 blockbuster sets and a friend buys 2 blockbuster sets then we can swap with each other and get 4 styles, having 2 or 3 of each. Everyone still has the same PV and we have the chance at twice as much variety. You do need a buddy for this to work and you may have some wait time between when you order and they do, but it's worth it for me right now with just over 150 pieces. 

Other Products
Once you have picked your inventory, you do have a few other options. First, start to build up your Starlet Shimmer if you'd like. They aren't worth any PV and don't really count for anything but $0.50 in your pocket a pop but people do like them and $1 girls jewelry is a nice advertisement for anyone who knows a kid. Aunties, grandmas, dads... they all like a cheap spoiler and when marketed that way they are golden at getting people in to look at the rest of your jewelry. 

The next thing you can consider are some of their "Boutique" items. This is all you. If branding yourself "Paparazzi" works in your area I would go for it. But if Paparazzi isn't so well known like it is in my little Rhode Island home state I would avoid the expense of these products and instead go for making yourself a t-shirt with your website, info, or what have you advertising what you're selling... This money is not a necessary purchase in the grand scheme, but if a $25 hoodie makes you feel a part of the team then go for it! Just don't spend the money you would otherwise spend on product. 

Under the Display category there are a few good options for displays. I've found displays a lot cheaper online or as DIY projects (check out my Paparazzi Pinterest Displays Board if you're interested) but I wouldn't discourage you from buying these ones either. They really aren't unreasonable and it's convenient to include in your flat rate shipping. 

The last is marketing materials. My advice, go with Vistaprint for any print materials. You can get a lot more bang for your buck and it be personalized. At least for me, none of these products are worth the money, with the exception of the Paparazzi bags. You can find bags a tad bit cheaper sure, but not with branding or customization without buying a huge amount, so I would stick with buying these plastic baggies for customer purchases instead. 

Check Out
If you bought a kit you know by now that your state's sales tax on accessories priced at $5 per piece is included in your final cost. So even though 100 pieces is only $275, I will be charged $35 in tax, which is 7% of $500. Prepare for that, and be grateful you don't have to deal with any of that yourself! Then, there is a $10 flat shipping charge. This being said, make sure that your order is worth it. In most cases you probably don't want to order less than 5 Kits, or 25 pieces because that makes shipping $0.40 a piece. So in Rhode Island that means I don't want to have less than $87.50 to invest. The other reason for not ordering less than 25 pieces is that you need 25 or more a month to maintain Star Consultant status which lets you earn commission on your down-line, be listed on the corporate website as a consultant in the area, and helps your up-line earn as well. 

So hopefully there was some good information in here. It gets easier as you go through it. If you have any questions feel free to ask! If I don't know, one of the many knowledgeable people above me will! Thank you all!